Synonyms of illiterate

illiterate 1 of 2

adjective

(ˌ)i(l)-ˈli-t(ə-)rət 

1

as in ungrammatical

violating approved patterns of speaking and writing

most of the messages left on the Web site's bulletin board are illiterate

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ungrammatical
• substandard
• nonstandard
• unidiomatic

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• grammatical
• idiomatic

2

as in ignorant

lacking in education or the knowledge gained from books

offered menus with pictures, presumably for the many illiterate people who must eat there

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ignorant
• uneducated
• inexperienced
• unschooled
• dark
• untutored
• unlettered
• nonliterate
• untaught
• benighted
• unlearned
• simple
• uninstructed
• innocent
• rude
• unread
• naive
• uncultured
• semiliterate
• unsophisticated
• analphabetic
• stupid
• foolish
• dumb
• artless
• unskilled
• functionally illiterate
• idiotic
• unknowledgeable
• uncultivated
• imbecile
• innumerate
• untrained
• green
• callow
• moronic
• lowbrow
• witless
• brainless
• silly
• philistine
• senseless
• raw

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• literate
• educated
• intelligent
• knowledgeable
• brilliant
• smart
• expert
• lettered
• trained
• experienced
• schooled
• well-informed
• intellectual
• well-read
• scholarly
• erudite
• learned
• cultured
• sophisticated
• aware
• cultivated
• familiar
• acquainted
• highbrow
• polymath
• polyhistoric

illiterate

2 of 2

noun

as in ignoramus

Related Words

• ignoramus
• know-nothing
• lowbrow
• philistine
• idiot
• imbecile
• ass
• moron
• dolt
• anti-intellectual
• donkey
• fool
• dunce
• blockhead
• knucklehead
• jackass
• pinhead
• numskull
• dope
• goon
• fathead
• dumbbell
• hammerhead
• half-wit
• nitwit
• dummy
• dodo

Dissimilar Words

• polymath
• intellect
• Renaissance man
• genius
• brain
• thinker
• wizard
• whiz
• wiz
• intellectual
• Renaissance woman
• blue
• highbrow
• polyhistor
• brainiac
• bluestocking

Synonym Chooser

How is the word illiterate distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of illiterate are ignorant, unlearned, unlettered, and untutored. While all these words mean "not having knowledge," illiterate applies to either an absolute or a relative inability to read and write.

much of the population is still illiterate

Where would ignorant be a reasonable alternative to illiterate?

While the synonyms ignorant and illiterate are close in meaning, ignorant may imply a general condition or it may apply to lack of knowledge or awareness of a particular thing.

an ignorant fool

ignorant of nuclear physics

When is unlearned a more appropriate choice than illiterate?

The synonyms unlearned and illiterate are sometimes interchangeable, but unlearned suggests ignorance of advanced subjects.

poetry not for academics but for the unlearned masses

When can unlettered be used instead of illiterate?

The meanings of unlettered and illiterate largely overlap; however, unlettered implies ignorance of the knowledge gained by reading.

an allusion meaningless to the unlettered

When might untutored be a better fit than illiterate?

In some situations, the words untutored and illiterate are roughly equivalent. However, untutored may imply lack of schooling in the arts and ways of civilization.

strange monuments built by an untutored people

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of illiterate

Adjective

Carrying news, satire and story into places where expensive books had seldom reached, they were sold for pennies, tacked to alehouse walls and sung aloud for the illiterate. —Deni Ellis Béchard, Scientific American, 8 Nov. 2025

For the chattering women, by contrast, the tool of power is writing; and for people who were almost certainly illiterate, the writing takes on almost magical characteristics. —JSTOR Daily, 31 Oct. 2025

Noun

Her existence in the vibrant capital city of Sepphoris brings into questions some of our traditional assumptions of Mary as an impoverished illiterate from a backwater rural village with no exposure to Greco-Roman culture. —Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2025